Back Roads
by chibi mask
Summary: An alternate universe
1. Default Chapter

Back Roads  
  
By Kaitlyn Shields and Lea Adersen  
  
Prologue  
  
Darien raced past all of the other cars on the freeway, his midnight blue eyes flashing in the inconsistent light of passing vehicles. He cursed fate for putting him out of town when the Negaverse attacked, praying against the massive headache telling him that his Princess had just become Sailormoon.  
"Hold on Serena," he muttered, pressing down harder on the gas. "I'm almost there!"  
  
*****  
The battle raged.  
Mud flew high into the air as fat drops of rain fell from the weeping sky. The earth itself was torn asunder by the fury of each opponents attack.  
Lightning shot through the sky.  
Water flooded the streets.  
Fires erupted throughout the business district.  
The battle cries rang throughout the entire city. Its inhabitants hidden within their houses, drawing their curtains closed and comforting the frightened screams of their young children.  
Sailormoon stood in the midst of it all.  
She watched almost helplessly as her friends, her guardians, used the powers deep within their souls to save her life. Mercury stood with her, tending to the grievous injury she had obtained in the beginning of the battle.  
Venus fought nearby, protecting Mercury as she went about her task, while Mars attempted to create a make shift shield of fire.  
Her attempts failed almost miserably.  
Only Sailor Jupiter stood in the middle of the battle, doing the one thing she knew how to do. She fought with all the fury of a hurricane, throwing her powers in all directions, never missing a target. She received her fair share of injuries but still fought on, protecting her Princess in the only way she knew.  
A bright flash lit the night sky for miles in all directions.  
And a scream tore the hearts of the Sailor Scouts.  
Sailormoon watched as her closest friend, and greatest champion, took a greater blow than she herself had received. The memory of lifetimes of companionship and sacrifice came flooding into her and she suddenly came back to herself, forgetting about her pain.  
"JUPITER!" she screamed, the sound of her voice echoing through the night. Mercury jumped at the sound of her Princess' sudden outburst and quickly cast her gaze in the direction of her other friend. Sailormoon fell instantly back into her role as leader and began barking orders at her teammates.  
"Mercury we need a smoke screen," she insisted. "Cover the entire city if you have to; just make sure they can't see us."  
Mercury nodded, moving away to perform her summoning.  
"Venus," Sailormoon re-directed her attention. "Be ready to grab Jupiter and get the hell out of here. Mars," she looked at her rival of the past four years. "We need a diversion."  
"A diversion," Mars asked. "What kind of diversion?"  
"I need you to go out there and grab their attention so that Venus can get Jupiter-"  
"You're asking me to go out there and get myself killed?" Mars cut in. "Venus saves Jupiter and Mercury saves you, what about me? They'll slaughter me!"  
"We don't have time to argue Mars," Sailormoon pleaded. "If we don't move now she'll be killed. I won't let anything happen to you, I swear!"  
"No," Mars stated flatly.  
"Fine," Sailormoon said, pushing Mars aside. "Then I'll go."  
The blast came out of no where, hitting Sailormoon square in the chest as she passed Sailor Mars, throwing her back into the wall several feet away.  
The wall cracked. The rain stopped.  
The entire city fell silent.  
Everyone stood and stared for a moment, absorbing the effects of what had just happened. And then a scream tore through the night air.  
"NOOO!!!!"  
Jupiter's voice rose above the following explosions as lightning crashed into the Earth with a ferocious passion. The other Sailor Scouts were temporarily blinded by the electrical storm that raged before their very eyes.  
Their enemies were also blinded and so did not get the chance to see their deaths before they happened.  
A gentler rain began to fall from the sky, taking the place of the enraged lightning bursts and putting the roaring flames to peace. Smoke left behind from the deadly strikes mixed in with the rain, slowly dissipating. Standing in the middle of the ruined ground, slightly obscured by the swirling smoke, was Sailor Jupiter.  
She stepped forward, limping slightly. She was covered in her own blood. It dripped from her fingers, running down her bare arms and legs like tiny crimson rivers. The rain plastered her bangs to her forehead and slowly washed the caked blood from her face. Her eyes, normally burning with joy, were clouded now by a deep sadness. She knelt beside her friend. Sailormoon had returned to the form of Serena, the town klutz and Sailor Jupiter's best friend. She opened her eyes as Jupiter gathered her fractured body into comforting arms. The rain felt cool against her skin. The pain was subsiding. "Did we win?" she asked, trying to raise herself up enough to see the ruptured battle ground. "Yeah Serena," Jupiter replied, tears welling in her glassy green eyes. "We won." "Good," Serena sighed, relaxing in her friends embrace. Mercury knelt beside them both, checking Serena's injuries. She came to a grim conclusion and, with tears sliding down her cheeks, glanced back at the others to confirm their worst fears. Serena coughed, specks of blood staining her lips as she did. "Jupiter," she started, trying to contain another cough. "Take this." She pulled her star locket out from beneath her shirt, taking it off from around her neck and holding it out to her friend. "I want you to lead them now." Jupiter shook her head. "No Serena, you're going to be fine." Serena coughed again. "Serena, you can't do this," Jupiter stated. "I can't do this without you." "You have to," Serena ordered, trying to make her fading voice sound strong. "You're the only one I know who can lead them. You're the only one who can keep the Negaverse from destroying everything. You have to keep fighting. Keep - the team - together." Her breath came difficultly. Tuxedo mask arrived then. He walked slowly up to the Sailor Scouts, approaching Mars from behind. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and she turned into him, burying her face in his chest. Her choked voice and ceaseless tears told him what had happened. As he looked down at his Princess he found her looking up at him, she had noticed him before anyone else. "Take care of them," she said, pleadingly. He nodded as she took her last shaky breath. The silence thickened as Serena's soul passed on from the living world. Then a streak of lightning danced across the sky, the air bristling with electricity. Jupiter stood, her face streaked with blood, rain and her own tears. Her eyes rose to meet Tuxedo Mask's, there was hatred within them the likes of which he had never seen from her before. She stepped towards him and Sailor Mars, pushing past the other two Sailor Scouts. "This is your fault," she stated, her voice harsh. "If you had been here-" "You can't blame him," Mars cut in. "He was out of town!" Jupiter's gaze fell on her and she shivered from the depth of her being. "I blame both of you," Jupiter said flatly. "Him for not being here and you for disobeying the orders she had given you that would have kept her alive." Mars took a step back; she hadn't thought that Jupiter had heard the argument she and Sailormoon had had just before that fatal explosion had taken her from them. "Leave," Jupiter commanded. "But-" "LEAVE!" A bolt of lightning struck the ground at Mars' feet, throwing her into the mud. Tuxedo Mask turned, helping her back up. "And don't EVER come back."  
  
***** The Adersen's had been watching the storm from the moment it had started, wondering if their daughter was alright. They wondered where she was while their son sat in the living room playing video games and assuring them that his ditz of a sister was fine. When there was a knock on the door he jumped from his seat, yelling that it was probably her and she had gotten stuck in the rain, forgetting her house key. When he opened the door he was surprised by the site of Sailor Jupiter, soaked to the bone and holding his sister's limp body in her arms. "MOM!" His mother walked into the entrance, followed closely by her husband. Both of them stopped in their tracks as they saw the Sailor Scout, Serena's mother gasped. "Mr. and Mrs. Adersen," Jupiter greeted them softly, her voice choking with unshed tears. She straightened her shoulders, lifting Serena higher in her arms as she entered the house that was once the girl's home. "I have unfortunate news." Mr. Adersen took his daughters body from the hero's arms, carrying her into the living room and laying her body on the couch as he tried to revive her. "Your daughter fought valiantly on this night," Jupiter began, trying to keep her voice steady as she repeated aloud what she had been planning to say when confronted by her belated friend's parents. "She lost her life saving mine in a battle against the Negaverse." "What are you talking about?" Sammy asked, the only one to find his voice as he looked from his sister's body to the lost look in the eyes of the Sailor Scout. Jupiter lowered her eyes and when she raised them again her uniform dissolved, returning her to her normal state. Lita stood before them where Sailor Jupiter had stood just moments ago. "Your sister, Sammy, was Sailormoon," she explained. "She has fought to save the universe for centuries and now she has fallen to her enemies thanks to the betrayal of two of her closest friends. I assure you," she started quickly as Mr. Adersen rose to his feet. "I have taken care of the situation to the best of my abilities." Mr. Adersen lowered himself again into the seat next to his wife, both of them looking disbelievingly at their daughter's body. "So you're telling me that my sister's dead?" Sammy asked. "That she was Sailormoon and she died in a battle... tonight?" The four of them sat in silence, mourning their loss. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
-=Five Years Later=-  
  
Eyes the color of midnight blinked against the glare of the early morning sun. Darien looked around at the city he had once known so well, taking in the site of the destruction that had devastated his home. The site brought unshed tears to his eyes. He raised a calloused hand and brushed the tears away before they were seen by his companion. He glanced at the young woman beside him as she too took in the sight of the city. There was the shadow of memory in the depths of her violet eyes and he wondered what distant memory was replaying in her mind. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Raye smiled up at him, the tears more evident in her dark eyes then they had been in his. "News said they were dead," he reminded her. Raye nodded. "We have to find out," she told him, her voice quivering. She covered his hand with her own, giving a gentle squeeze of affection. "Come on," he said as he knelt, picking up the four year old at his feet. The small family walked until the sun began to descend. Morning had turned into afternoon and the child was beginning to squirm in her father's arms. Darien stopped long enough to re-adjust his grip on his daughter but the little girl continued to squirm. "Annie," Darien chided the girl. "Stop squirming or I'll make you walk." The little girl sniffed and blinked her large violet eyes at her father. "Daddy," she started in a tiny voice. "I's hungwy." Darien smiled at his daughter and then, looking to his wife, stopped again. "Well," he thought a moment. "Why don't we see if the Crown Parlor is still around?" Raye smiled. "Andrew." She nodded at her husband and the three of them changed direction on the road they had been following, taking a side ally that would lead them to a place they used to spend a lot of time in.  
  
***** "MINAKO!" a young girl's voice shot through the crowded tavern, Minako's Seventh Heaven, which had once been Crown Parlor. "WE'RE OUT OF-" The front door was thrown open just as the teenage girl had stepped in front of it. Vile curses began to fill the entranceway. Hotaru clutched her forehead, glaring at the platter of food that was now scattered all over the floor. Raye looked past the door, trying to see what had made the loud racket, seeing Hotaru she moved as quickly as possible to help her. "I am SO sorry!" Hotaru simply sighed and began cleaning up the mess. "I really am sorry," Raye said again as she picked up the pieces of a broken glass. She looked up at her husband and daughter. "You guys go ahead and get a table; I'll be over in a minute." Darien nodded. "Thanks-," Hotaru began as she looked up at the woman helping her. But her voice cut short at the site of the new customer and she stopped, staring. A long lock of violet hair tumbled over Raye's shoulder as she helped the girl; she tossed it back and smiled at Hotaru, not recognizing the teenage version of the young Outer Scout. Hotaru just continued to stare blankly at the woman she had known, saying nothing. "Here you go," Raye said as she held the tray out to the girl. "I'm sorry again." Hotaru blinked her large dark eyes, taking the platter, and then she rose to her feet and took off towards the bar where a tall blonde was cleaning the counter. Raye watched the teen whisper something into the blonde's ear. "You're shittin' me!" the blonde blurted. Sky blue eyes went directly to where Raye was standing then began searching the room until they found Darien sitting at a table in the far corner of the room. "I don't believe it. Did she recognize you?" "I don't think so," Hotaru answered with a shake of her head. "Well, it would be rude not to serve them," Mina pointed out. "Just make sure Makoto doesn't find out about this." Mina handed Hotaru a couple of menus and sent her back to work. "And kid." Hotaru turned back. "Stop running into the door." The teen simply stuck her tongue out at her friend and continued with her chores. She dropped the two menus on Raye and Darien's table, eyeing the child that sat with them, then disappeared to help another customer. Mina watched her old friends carefully.  
  
***** Half an hour had past and it looked like the young teen was not going to come back to their table. Darien tried several times to catch the girl's attention but to no avail. "Well the service sure could be better," Raye remarked snidely as the girl passed by them again without so much as a glance. "Relax Raye," Darien intoned. "There are a lot of Negaverse creeps here; she's trying to make sure their all served first." At that moment another young woman bound through the door, narrowly missing the teen who instinctively flinched. "Sorry I'm late Minako!" The woman's long blue hair brushed her backside as she pulled it up into a loose ponytail. She skirted behind the bar, grabbing an apron and a tray as she passed the blonde. She tied the apron around her hips, covering the shortly cut jean shorts that she was wearing, and placed a pair of old glasses on her nose as she looked around the room. The blonde leaned over the bar, whispering something to the woman with the blue hair and she looked directly at Raye and Darien. Darien watched as the two conversed behind the bar, both glancing anxiously back at Raye and himself. Then the woman with the blue hair approached. "I hear you haven't been waited on yet," she said with the slightest tinge of an English accent, as she pulled a pad of paper out of her apron pocket. "My name is Mizuno Ami and I will be your waitress tonight, what can I get for you?" Raye looked up at the woman and felt her jaw drop. Her violet eyes met the depths of the northern Atlantic as she looked at the woman before her. Ami had long blue hair that, even when pulled back, still grazed her backside. Her eyes were the color of glowing sapphires. Her expression was intelligent and reserved yet full of passion below the surface. She was not a tall woman but Raye and Darien knew that her height bellied her power. "Sailor Mercury?" Darien whispered as Raye attempted to regain her composure. The blue haired woman lowered her glasses with the end of her pen and looked at him severely. "The Sailor Scouts are long dead sir," she said, making a point to emphasize the word dead. "And it would do you some good not to mention any of their names in this town lest you wanna get yourself and your family killed." At the gesture the young woman made with her last comment Darien glanced around the room. At least a dozen eyes were now on his table. That was a dozen Negaverse ears that had heard him call the blue haired woman Sailor Mercury. "Sorry Ma'am," he said, raising his voice so those dozen ears heard him. "I mistook you." "Good boy Darien," Ami whispered. "So you are-" "I am Ami," she repeated. "Mizuno Ami and I will be your waitress tonight."  
  
***** Darien and Raye ordered food for themselves and their daughter and Ami returned periodically to check on them. She suggested to them, while refilling their glasses, to stay until nearly closing. Then she would sit with them and talk. The Negaverse soldiers left just before Eight O'clock. That's when the blonde behind the bar pulled an old CD player out of one of her many nooks and began playing music that she then started singing to herself while she cleaned. The teenager disappeared down the stairs near the door to return moments later carrying a three year old girl in her arms. The little girl looked strikingly like the woman behind the bar. The bar was nearly empty before Ami plopped into the chair across from Darien, tossing her tray and notepad onto the table behind her. "What in bloody hell are you two doing here?" "Good way to say hello to old friends Amy," Darien spat; he didn't like the mixed expression contorting Amy's pretty features. "We came because we heard the Sailor Scouts were dead," Raye blurted before Amy could say anything in response to Darien. "But YOU are obviously very much alive." Amy shook her head. "The Sailor Scouts ARE dead." The three of them glanced towards the bar where the blonde was picking up dirty glasses and setting them on a tray. "They've been dead for a very long time," she said her azure blue eyes riddled with a deep sadness as she glanced at her daughter sitting with the teenage girl that Darien and Raye now recognized as a very grown-up Sailor Saturn. "And you've all been in hiding?" Darien asked, calmer now that Mina had spoken. "Are you all still together?" "Mostly," Amy answered just as the grandfather clock behind the bar tolled out the time and a rush came in through the door. At least a dozen scraggily human beings came into the bar, all of them going off down a hall that Raye and Darien only now noticed. "Who are they?" Raye asked. "A few of the remaining souls of Tokyo," Hotaru answered, sadly watching as a child disappeared down the hall alone. "Curfew has tolled. If one is caught in town past curfew they are dragged off to the shrine to be punished... they're never seen again." "You mean my Grandfather's shrine?" Raye asked. Amy, Mina and Hotaru all bowed their heads, keeping silent under the question. Tears sprang into Raye's violet eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand. Darien glanced at her briefly before looking back at Amy. "What about everyone else?" he asked. "Where are they?" Amy took a deep breath. "The guys... the knights are working as guards for the Negaverse. It was the only way for them to protect us. Your brother and his family are in America. Andrew is in Paris. The Outers and Samuel are here... as is Lita-" "What about Kaitlyn?" Darien asked with an insistence in his voice that Raye hadn't heard since Serena's death. The last time he had seen his younger sister she had been weak to the influence of the Darkness inside of her, fighting her had almost cost him his life. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" The sultry voice came from the doorway where two cloaked figures had been standing unnoticed until now. The shorter of the two removed her hood to reveal pale cat-like features and long raven black hair. Kaitlyn was as young as she had always looked although there was a frailty to her that Darien had never seen. She held a weathered willow staff in her right hand that she was using for support and there was a limp to her walk as she approached them. Darien rose to greet her, moving forward, but he quickly found himself lying on the ground. An electrical force had caught him in the chest and thrown him to the floor nearly two feet from where he had been standing near Raye. Lita removed her hood then. Her acid green eyes looked over him with a malice that sent shivers down his spine before moving to take in Raye's presence. None of the others in the room had changed more than in the length of their hair and the lines of age, worry, and a hard life, but Lita had changed dramatically. The emerald eyes that had once burned with so much passion for life had gone cold. Her face was thin, sunken. Her beautiful strawberry hair had been sheered short and tipped black. She moved cautiously over to the coat hooks near the door and removed hers, hanging it, then returned to standing near Kaitlyn. The site of her without her jacket was much less intimidating. She was thin, almost malnourished, and she hid the site of her skin beneath long sleeves and gloves that exposed only her fingers. The color green was no longer part of her casual wear. Her clothes were black. She rubbed her bare fingers together. "What are they doing here," she directed her question to Mina, who was still standing behind the bar. Even her voice was thinner. It sounded hoarse, like she had been crying for hours. "They had heard we were all dead," Amy explained, moving her chair away from the table. "They wanted to find out for themselves." "Then they can be on their way," Lita stated flatly as she moved towards the bar with Kaitlyn. "They've seen all the proof they need to know that we ARE dead and there is NOTHING here for them." "What do you mean that you're dead?" Raye asked. Lita cast a sideways glance at her old comrade then began unlacing one of the long gloves. When she had finished she turned around, removing the glove, and showed Raye a hideous scar that ran up the soft pale skin of her forearm. "We died a long time ago." Amy leaned closer to Raye and Darien as Lita turned toward the bar, whispering so only they could hear her. "Lita went to the shrine to inform them that the Sailor Scouts had died in the attack that ruined Serena's funeral, killing Serena's parents and a lot of other innocent people." Amy lowered her eyes as if still in mourning, then she continued to explain. "With Serena's death it seemed that the Negaverse now knew who we were but it wasn't us they knew... Lita's power gave us away. "She didn't need to transform anymore to use the electricity that she wields. When we all lost our ability to transform and use our powers she didn't. She can't become Sailor Jupiter but she still wields the power of lightning. It's like it burned itself into her when Serena died. And the Negaverse knew it." Hotaru moved to sit nearer to Amy, continuing the tale. "She went to them to save us all," she glanced at the bar but Lita was talking with Mina. "We didn't see her again for three months. They broke her. She came back bearing scars and wounds that none of us would have ever survived and she told us that the Negaverse agreed to leave us alone as long as we stayed out of their way." "She saved us from being hunted," Amy finished. 


	3. Chapter two

Chapter Two Silence filled the tavern with Amy's last words. Raye's violet eyes were on Lita, trying to see past the clothing that the other woman wore. She wondered what her friend had been through and she again found herself regretting the past. Darien was watching his sister. Kaitlyn had set the willow staff against the bar as she sat. She seemed to be taking part in a heated argument between Lita and Mina but Darien couldn't hear a word the three of them were saying. Hotaru noticed him watching Kaitlyn and leaned in close so he could hear her. "She re-joined them, ya know." "What do you mean," he asked, his gaze returning to the teenager sitting in front of him. "Kaitlyn re-joined the Negaverse a year or so ago," Amy explained. Darien looked back at his younger sister. Her over-sized coat was hanging off of her slender shoulders and her hands were nearly buried in the large sleeves, it made her look so much smaller than she really was. Her skin was a striking shade of ivory but the undersides of her eyes were dark, making her look exhausted. She was almost as thin as Lita. The childish roundness gone from her face now, leaving sharpened angles for her jaw and cheekbones. Her lips were a striking shade of crimson. She shot a glance towards him, her eyes meeting his for no more than a heartbeat. But that heartbeat was enough for him to see the most drastic change he had ever seen in her. Her eyes were a shade of blue so dark they were almost black and the pupils slit down the middle like a cat's. He hadn't noticed it when he had first seen her. "Why," he heard himself asking distantly. Raye looked at him for a moment then looked back at Amy; there was disgust in her eyes. "Why would you let her stay here then if she was part of them?" "Because she's family Raye," Lita's voice was sharp, her answer straight to the point. "But I guess you don't remember what it's like to be part of a family, do you?" "I happen to HAVE a family Lita," spat Raye indignantly. She shot a quick glance towards her daughter; the little girl was sitting on the floor playing with Mina's child. "A real family." "You mean a family you stole," Lita retorted coldly, glaring at Darien. "A family that didn't belong to you." Everyone sat in silence for several heartbeats. No one knew what to say. Then Kaitlyn broke the silence with her silky voice. "I'm going to bed," she said, patting Lita on the arm before taking up her willow staff. "You should try to sleep too." Lita looked away from Darien, nodding as she too rose from her seat and began walking toward the stairs near the door. After the two disappeared down the first few steps Mina turned up the old CD player and continued to wipe down the bar, tossing extra rags toward Amy and Hotaru. It didn't take them long to finish cleaning. Shortly after 9:30 the place was spotless. Mina hung her apron on a hook before coming out from behind the bar. She was still slender despite having given birth to the child she now stooped to pick up off of the floor. Her golden blonde hair swept her shoulders now that it was loose of the tight pony tail she had pulled it into for work. Her cheeks still held the roundness of youth but her eyes bellied the wisdom of a thousand lifetimes and a sadness that they all shared. "I guess I better show you to a room," she said with a mildly amused tone of voice. She shifted her daughter from one hip to the other with a motherly ease and started for the stairs. "Follow me." Raye picked up Annie and followed with Darien, Amy and Hotaru not far behind them.  
***** Darien stood in the doorway to the room Mina had given him and his family, watching as his young daughter curled up next to his wife. He blinked back tears as the image of a different room and two very different girls forced their way into his thoughts. He silently shut the door, leaving Raye and Annie to sleep, and walked across the common room toward the stairs. If the clock on the mantle in the underground room was correct then it was well past one in the morning and everyone was asleep. He headed up the steps leading to the bar, trying his best to keep the old wooden steps from creaking beneath his feet. He could barely believe that the Sailor Scouts were still alive. He had been certain, when he and Raye had left Tokyo so long ago, that the Scouts would crumble. It was true that none of them had the power to fight against the Negaverse but Lita had done her best to keep them together. She had sacrificed herself to keep the Negaverse as far away from them as she could. The only thing Darien couldn't understand was why Kaitlyn had rejoined the Negaverse after fighting so hard to keep the darkness within herself at bay? And why would Lita tolerate her presence if she was playing for the other team? He shook the thoughts from his head. "I need a drink." He was nearly to the top of the stairs when he heard whispered voices. He slowed his ascent, stopping just inside the threshold where he knew he wouldn't be seen. "They don't suspect anything?" a male voice asked. "Nothing," was the sultry reply. Darien's eyes widened at the sound of his sister's voice. "Fools," said the man again. "We'll have destroyed them before they even realize what hit them." "Now, now," chided Kaitlyn, her voice almost a purr. "We can't just attack them you know." "I know!" Darien heard the sloshing of a bottle as the man took a swig of something then slammed it back onto the counter. "But soon, very soon, we will have what we've wanted and Sailor moon's death will not have been wasted." Darien couldn't believe what he was hearing. Anger began burning in the pit of his stomach. The thought that Kaitlyn had helped plan Serena's death... that this man she was talking with now was planning on destroying the rest of them in the safety of their own home; it was more than Darien could handle. He took the last few steps into the bar, the sight he saw there made his anger burn deeper then it had while he was simply listening to the two talking. Kaitlyn was sitting on the edge of the bar near a bottle of some sort of drink and a shot glass, the shot glass was hers. She wasn't wearing what she had been in earlier that evening. Instead she was garbed in a t-shirt that was clearly from several years ago, exposing a slender belly and long thin arms, and a pair of old ripped jeans. Her feet were bare as she dangled them above the floor. Her raven black hair was pulled back in a braid that want far past her rear-end and her cat like eyes were focused entirely on the man pacing in front of her. The man was tall, well muscled. He wore his hair short and spiky and his clothing was as casual as Kaitlyn's, a pair of ripped jeans and an open dress shirt. His back was towards Darien, neither of them noticing his presence. The man walked back toward Kaitlyn and she smiled warmly at him. He leaned over her, taking her face in his strong hands and tilting it back so that he could press his lips against hers. Darien's anger was at its boiling point. He knocked over a chair as he approached them, catching their attention too late. The man kissing Kaitlyn turned in time for Darien's fist to connect with his jaw. The impact threw the man back into the bar and Kaitlyn. She caught him by the shirt before he could fall to the ground, then her dark eyes came to rest on Darien's face and her surprise dissolved into anger. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" she screamed at him, no doubt waking the rest of the neighborhood. The sultry tones were gone from her voice and Darien could here the child he had known. She slipped from the bar, pulling the man to his feet. "I could ask you the same thing," Darien seethed. "I heard your plans. I heard you talking to him about ambushing the Sailor Scouts and destroying them!" Kaitlyn looked at Darien as if she had only just seen him, then she blinked and a smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she shook her head. "You're a fool." Even the man Darien had just sucker punched was smiling through his newly swollen lip. "What do you mean?" Darien asked, giving the man the dirtiest look he could manage while keeping his attention on his sister. "I know about you Kaitlyn. I know that you rejoined them and now I know what you're planning." "Darien," Kaitlyn began her voice back to normal. "I would like to re- introduce you to someone." She gestured toward the man standing beside her. "Not exactly nice to see you again Darien," he said as he held his hand out for Darien to shake. Darien didn't take the other man's hand. He glared at him without recognition. "It's me Darien," the man said. "Sammy." The image of Serena's younger brother flashed through Darien's mind and recognition finally began to dawn on him. He looked from Sammy to Kaitlyn and back again. "Amy told me that Serena's family was dead." "Most of them are," Kaitlyn informed him. "I survived," Sammy finished, wrapping his arm around Kaitlyn's slender waist. "Kaitlyn saved me from the initial blast. She saw it coming before it did but I was the only one she could save. She and I have been a team since, working to try and find a way to destroy the Negaverse... not the Scouts." "You always did jump to silly conclusions," Kaitlyn muttered as she poured some of the alcohol from the bottle into her shot glass and drank it. Darien took the glass from her, provoking a disapproving sound, filled it and drank it himself. "So I jumped to a conclusion?" "You came in at the end of our conversation," Sammy noted. "How do I know you're not part of the Negaverse and the two of you aren't lying to me," Darien asked incredulously. "Because the Negaverse killed my family Darien," Sammy stated with a hard look in his eyes. "Because my sister fought them and they killed her. Now I fight them to avenge what they've done." "But Kaitlyn re-joined them." "As a spy," Kaitlyn explained. "If I was really on their side Darien do you think Lita would let me live here? Would she even let me live?" Darien filled the glass again and emptied it with the same enthusiasm. He felt stupid. The anger he felt now was towards himself. He had judged Kaitlyn knowing how hard she had fought for control before. He had assumed she had lost her battle against the darkness in her soul but instead she seemed to have triumphed over it. She was surrounded by the Negaverse and still she fought for the humanity of the rest of the world. He could see it in her face now, the compassion in her cat like eyes, the sadness that everyone else shared. He watched her for a long moment and she met his eyes with a look of pride. He took another drink. "How did that happen," he asked when he looked back into her eyes. "I don't know," she confessed. "I changed one day to disguise myself and when I changed back my eyes just... didn't. They've been like this for three years." "You look so grown up," he told her. He had wanted to say so when he had first seen her earlier that evening but he hadn't gotten the chance. Now it seemed like it was a lame attempt at making up for thinking of her as too weak to fight against the Negaverse. He took another drink, from the bottle this time, trying to make himself feel less stupid. She smiled. Sammy moved behind the bar, pulling out two more glasses and another bottle of alcohol. He didn't say anything. He just filled the two glasses and handed one to Kaitlyn. They all drank in silence for a while. Then Darien thought of another topic for their conversation. "I saw you kissing," he said. Kaitlyn blushed. Sammy just grinned. Neither of them said anything. Darien fell silent again, feeling like he had intruded on something he had no part of, but he couldn't help the protective feeling that overwhelmed his heart now that Kaitlyn was smiling with the youthful energy she controlled so well. "When did you two..." he fell silent again, not knowing how to word his question. "We became serious almost a year ago now," Kaitlyn answered. "About the same time she turned traitor," Sammy joked. Darien could feel the gentle rush as his thoughts connected with hers. She was reading his mind, making it easier to answer the questions he wanted answers to. It was almost a violation but he welcomed her thoughts. He had missed her almost as much as he still missed Serena. He was grateful for the fact that Kaitlyn didn't hold a grudge against him for leaving five years ago and he felt relieved that she didn't blame him for Serena's death. "I wouldn't blame you Darien," she whispered solemnly. "It wasn't your fault... nor was it Raye's." He smiled. "What about Luc?" he asked, returning the subject to where he could control it. "Lucas is dead Darien," Kaitlyn said, there was no regret in her voice. "He died so long ago and I blamed myself for so many years but Samuel has taught me that it was not my fault. I had no control over what the Negaverse did. All I can do now is move on and live my life the way Lucas would have wanted me to." Darien nodded. It sounded like something Raye had said to him five years ago, before Annie... before they had gotten married. It made his heart ache. He had wondered then if the path he had taken had really been what Serena would have wanted for him. "She would have wanted you to be happy," Kaitlyn told him, resting her small hand on top of his much larger one. "Are you happy?" Darien shook his head. He couldn't say anything because he knew that his sister would know that he was lying. He didn't know whether he was happy or not. He had spent the last five years with Raye, four and a half of them married and raising their daughter. But he had spent almost every second of every day thinking about Serena, wondering what would have happened had he gotten there sooner. It mad him feel sad. There was no other word for it. It was a deep sadness that made his soul ache. It was the feeling that made him drink. It was the feeling that made him marry Raye. It was the feeling that brought Annie into the world. It was the feeling that brought them back to Tokyo looking for the Sailor Scouts. How could he tell his little sister that he had no idea how he felt? How would she understand? Kaitlyn's fingers gently caressed his hand. She was looking at the lantern that had been there when he had come upstairs, the light making her eyes glow, and he could tell that she was thinking about all the things she had just seen in his head. 


	4. Chapter three UNFINISHED

Chapter Three They spent the rest of the night like that, sitting there at the bar drinking from their glasses. Sammy made an attempt at idle conversation but Kaitlyn never joined in. She would smile at comments made but her mind was somewhere else completely. Darien worried that he might have upset his younger sister but every time he thought to ask she simply squeezed his hand and murmured that she was fine. The sun came up slowly, filling the room with an eerie glow as it tried to peek through the tattered curtains that covered the windows. Mina was the first one to come up the stairs. The light made her hair shine gold as she opened the curtains, taking in the site outside the windows of Minako's Seventh Heaven. There were still soldiers marching up and down the streets but their numbers were growing fewer as the sun rose higher into the sky. Mina began making the bar ready to be opened, mostly ignoring the three of them as she bustled around. Sammy went off to help her as she disappeared into the kitchen and soon the smell of bacon and coffee wafted into the air. Hotaru came up next, followed closely by a very awake Amy. Both of them skirted behind the bar to don their aprons and Hotaru unlocked the front door. The first customers of the day were the shells that had entered the bar last night as the curfew bell had begun to toll. They emerged from the hallway they had disappeared into, bedraggled and dirty. Darien recognized the little girl that had been the last to walk down the hall. She wore a shirt that was twice her size and torn in places, it was brown with age and constant use. She couldn't have been more than seven. She sat alone at one of the tables in the corner, pushing her ratty blonde hair out of her eyes as she looked at the menu Amy laid in front of her. Darien's heart ached at the site of the little girl. "She's one of hundreds." Kaitlyn's voice broke him out of his reverie. "Tokyo is full of children who have suffered from the loss of their families... Lea says it's not just here either but millions of children all over the world." "Something that never would have happened if Sailormoon hadn't died." Lita's voice came harshly from the stairwell in front of the door. Both Darien and Kaitlyn looked over at her. She stood in the morning light her hair tousled. She stretched her limber form and ran her long slender fingers through her short hair in an attempt to make it lay flatter, and then she approached them. Kaitlyn greeted her with a smile but Darien kept his eyes averted in an attempt not to raise her ire as he had last night. He had no desire to be struck in the chest by another bolt of wild electricity. "You were up late again," Lita observed of Kaitlyn as she pushed an empty alcohol bottle away from herself. Darien noted that she was not wearing the gloves she had worn last night but, instead, her arms were bare, revealing the scars that ran over her milk white skin like tiny rivers. A tiny bell jingled as the door opened and the three of them looked to see who had entered. Five Negaverse guards ambled in, removing their heavy jackets and weapon holsters. The hairs on the back of Darien's neck bristled but Kaitlyn rested her hand on his as Lita rose from her seat and crossed the room. Lita smiled as she took the jacket and holster of one of the soldiers, hanging them on the rack near her own hooded coat. The other soldiers hung their own things then took up a table that Lita joined them at. There were four men and one woman. The woman had short blonde hair and Darien recognized her instantly as Sailor Uranus. Recognition soon fell into place as to the identities of the four men. Chad had cut his hair in a military style, exposing his face and dark brown eyes. Greg, Amy's friend, had cut his hair in a similar fashion to Sammy's. Mike, Mina's boyfriend five years ago, hadn't changed much. His blonde hair still fell to frame his boyish face though there were a few scars that marred his features that Darien hadn't remembered. And then there was Ken, the soldier Lita had met at the door, his hair was a bit shorter but not by much. It was apparent that Lita and Ken had finally gotten over being friends and simply became something more. He had always made Lita smile, even now. All four of them were much more substantial then Darien had remembered. Five years ago all four of them had been thin teenage boys but now they seemed larger, still lean, they had muscles they hadn't had before. Darien shook his head at the Negaverse symbol on their shirts but he understood why they had joined. They were protecting the people they loved. Mina's daughter came up the stairs just then, followed by two women. "DADDY!" Mike turned in his chair and scooped the little girl into his arms. "Hey there sweetheart, where's your mum?" "Where she usually is at this time in the morning," chided one of the women that had followed the little girl up the stairs. Michelle hadn't changed in the slightest. Her curly hair still fell just past her shoulders in a wave of oceanic color. Her eyes, though sadder, were still full of the passion she had always shown in everything she did and her smile was still as ready to show itself as it had been five years ago. She leaned over Alex, leaving behind a good morning kiss before taking up a seat beside her fellow Outer Scout. The other woman stood where Michelle had left her. She had longer hair than Amy and Mina combined, it was tied back in a tight Japanese braid and it still touched the back of the woman's calves. A cane was in her right hand, protective Kanji's carved over its entire surface, and a pair of old sunglasses covered her eyes completely. Kaitlyn got up to help her to a seat, limping as she crossed the room. "Charon," Hotaru squeaked as she passed near Darien, a tray of breakfast foods in her tiny hands. Darien looked back at the woman that his sister was currently fussing over. Her face was antiquely etched, like it had been carved out of porcelain and her lips had been painted on. Her skin was pale as ivory. She looked like a doll. And she was blind.... Kaitlyn came back to sit with Darien after she had made sure that Charon was as comfortable as possible. "What happened to her?" he asked. "It happened in the attack at Sailor Moon's funeral," Kaitlyn answered, pulling a menu closer to her and idly flipping through the pages. "Are you hungry?" Darien ordered himself something to eat and eventually Raye and Annie joined everyone else upstairs, to the bitter chagrin of Lita who made as many comments as she could that would cause grief among the couple. Kaitlyn insisted that they ignore her but Raye's temperature rose to a slightly uncomfortable degree and it took most of her determination not to say anything back. Around noon there was a shift change. Lita disappeared into the kitchen and everyone but Charon, Mike and his daughter disappeared down the stairs. Mina took up her place behind the bar and began serving drinks to a few of the Negaverse soldiers that had begun to filter in. The aroma that replaced the bacon and coffee was heavenly. Lita hadn't lost her touch in the kitchen. 


End file.
